Mike Pence Breaks Silence, Says Democrats’ Election Bills Are ‘Unconstitutional Power Grab’

President Donald Trump arrives with Vice President Mike Pence for a Make America Great Again rally at Cherry Capital Airport in Traverse City, Michigan on Nov. 2, 2020. Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

Former Vice President Mike Pence wrote his first op-ed after leaving office, saying Democrats’ push for election laws is an “unconstitutional power grab.”

“I share the concerns of millions of Americans about the integrity of the 2020 election. That’s why when I was serving as presiding officer at the joint session of Congress certifying the Electoral College results, I pledged to ensure that all objections properly raised under the Electoral Count Act would be given a full hearing before Congress and the American people,” Pence wrote.

Pence railed against Democrats’ H.R. 1, which would require states to use an automatic voter registration system for federal elections, allow same-day voter registration, and other measures. Some Republicans have said the bill would ensure that GOP candidates would never get elected again during presidential races.

“While legislators in many states have begun work on election reform to restore public confidence in state elections, unfortunately, congressional Democrats have chosen to sweep those valid concerns and reforms aside and to push forward a brazen attempt to nationalize elections in blatant disregard of the U.S. Constitution,” he wrote in the opinion article for The Daily Signal, which is associated with the Heritage Foundation. He added that H.R. 1 would “trample the First Amendment” as well as “erode” Americans’ confidence in their elections.

Pence received criticism from former President Donald Trump on Jan. 6 during the Joint Session of Congress. Trump tweeted that Pence “didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts” before the post was deleted and Trump’s account was permanently suspended by Twitter.

Pence and his wife Karen Pence were seen attending President Joe Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20. The former vice president also declined to attend the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) last week in Florida, according to CPAC’s Matt Schlapp. A number of Trump surrogates and Trump himself spoke at the conference.

But last month, Pence praised Trump during a meeting he held with congressional Republicans, said one who attended.

“Vice President Pence made it very clear that he’s proud of the Trump administration’s accomplishments and he spoke favorably of President Trump and their relationship,” Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement, referring to Pence’s meeting with lawmakers.

“As a former chairman of the Republican Study Committee himself, VP Pence gave a lot of great advice about my position. It was an honor to work with him to develop the RSC’s forward-facing conservative agenda to unite the Republican Party,” he added.

Banks predicted that Pence will have a more public presence in the coming months.